Joe Burrow and Bengals Starters Score in Front of Large Crowd at Preseason Opener

Just what the doctor ordered. Or at least Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.

Well, not exactly. Tampa Bay won Saturday night’s wild preseason opener when the Bengals’ fourth-and 12 stand in the last minute was negated by a pass interference call that turned a 14-10 win into a 17-14 loss.

But on a beautiful 73-degree night in front of a large crowd on their new field at Paycor Stadium, quarterback Joe Burrow opened the year with a crisp 12-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to match the weather.

Rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton seemingly bookended the night with 3:33 left in the game when he ran a stop-and-go before catching a 37-yard touchdown pass on a pearl from quarterback Logan Woodside down the left sideline to give the Bengals a 14-10 lead.

But Tampa Bay hit four straight passes before the stand. Facing fourth-and-12, Bengals rookie cornerback Lance Robinson was called for pass interference. On the next snap, with 57 seconds left, the Bengals had running back Ramon Jefferson stuffed at the 4, but let him get out for the winning run.

Woodside hooked up again with Burton for another bomb, this time for 38 yards with 41 seconds left. But they went for the win and couldn’t get the first down on Woodside’s scramble on fourth down.

Way back in the first ten minutes, the Bengals’ first defense made it a complete night for the Ones by forcing a three-out in their only action of the night.

Burrow, making his first appearance since suffering a season-ending throwing wrist injury Nov. 16 in Baltimore, was his lethal self in hitting five of seven passes for 51 yards. His last one was a 10-yard flip for a touchdown to wide receiver Tee Higgins and the Ones were able to break out the sweats on the sidelines for the rest of the night, their work done in the first 6:26.

Higgins was the center of the drive with two catches for 19 yards and nearly hauled in a 58-yard touchdown when Burrow went bootleg…